Number of Homeless People Up. No Down

Yes, the numbers are up 2% from the last time the city did the census in 2005 (6,377 now compared with 6,248 then) but that's 28% lower than 2003 when that number was 8,640. Trent Roher, Gavin's point person on all things homeless (after Alex left, of course) says that despite the numbers, 5,224 people have either been housed or sent back to their families. Roher expressed dissatisfaction with the number, but is claiming that the 2% increase is merely because they did a better job of counting then they did last time.

So who are these people who are replacing those 5000 or so homeless people in the streets? According to the census, around 33% are from out of town who went homeless and decided to move here.

The Coalition for the Homeless, however, are claiming that the numbers are an undercount and doesn't include people in the parks or in there cars. When the numbers came out in 2005, the coalition and the Board of Supes called for a look into the count but the analyst who did said everything was on the up-and-up.

But you know what really hurts? When a newspaper in Seattle looks at all the homeless people they see and ask: "A future San Francisco?"